Sharyn Alfonsi

Sharyn Alfonsi is an on-air correspondent for CBS News. She has also occasionally anchored the CBS Evening News on the weekend broadcasts. According to th Tyndall Report, she was one of the most visable American Journalists on television. [1]

Early life

Alfonsi grew up in McLean, Virginia. She graduated from the University of Mississippi, Oxford in 1994. She is rumored to be the inspiration for Darby Shaw in John Grisham's The Pelican Brief. [2]

Journalism career

Alfonsi began her career in broadcast journalism at KHBS-TV in Fort Smith, Arkansas from 1994 to 1995, where she served as a news reporter, weekend weather anchor, photographer and editor. She then became a general assignment reporter for WVEC–TV in Norfolk, Virginia from 1995 to 1997, where she traveled extensively with the military. Between 1998 and 2000, she worked as a reporter and substitute anchor for KIRO-TV in Seattle, Washington, where she covered the World Trade Organization riots. Between 2000 and 2003, Sharyn worked as a reporter and substitute anchor for WBZ-TV, the CBS-owned station in Boston, where she covered the ongoing Catholic church scandal, the Michael Skakel trial and the Rhode Island nightclub fire, among other stories.

Alfonsi was named a CBS News correspondent, based in New York, in July 2004. She has also anchored the CBS Evening News. She has traveled across the globe covering a range of stories, most notably the war in Iraq, Aghanistan, the conflict in Israel, Hurricane Katrina, and the Sago Mine Disaster in West Virginia. Alfonsi had a near-miss in Israel when a missile landed close to her shelter. Alfonsi was the lead reporter for the Networks coverage of the Virginia Tech Massacre.

CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer has told Ed Bark, long-time TV critic of the Dallas Morning News, that "She's smart, funny as hell." Schieffer added in a later article that " She will be a treasure of the Network one day."

On August 10, of 2006, Alfonsi was featured on the CBS Public Eye web-site. [[3]]

10 Plus 1: Sharyn Alfonsi On Baghdad And Ron Burgundy

(CBS) Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi just returned from covering the Middle East crisis and this week, she took some time to answer our standard 10 questions, plus one from a reader. Read on to find out what happened when Sharyn “skipped” customs at the Baghdad airport, what she’d like to see done differently on the “Evening News,” and why she’s not a huge fan of a certain former sitcom star.

What do you do at CBS News? I’m a news correspondent. That means I’m a reporter who has to brush her hair.

What single issue should be covered more at CBS News? I don’t think there’s a single issue, but I think we could do a better job at the way we approach stories. Not every story should be two minutes long with an expert interview in the middle. I think sometime we’re just too predictable.

Give us a great behind the scenes story. Here’s one I can repeat: Last year, I was traveling to Iraq for the first time. I arrived at Baghdad airport and the electricity was out. The airport was pitch black, my luggage was gone and I was alone. I didn’t know what to do next.

A kind Iraqi man who had been on my flight took pity on me and ushered me through the dark airport and into the office that deals with lost luggage. I was standing in line to fill out my claim when a uniformed man grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me through the airport. I thought I was being kidnapped.

Turns out, I somehow “skipped” customs as I snaked through the dark airport. I spent 45 minutes in a nine-by-nine foot room being screamed at in Arabic by two large men. It felt like three hours. The only English they knew was “jail” and “long time.” One of the guards also sang the theme song of “Friends” to me at one point and I’m still not sure why.

I never got my luggage back. It didn’t seem to matter.

Have you ever been assigned a story you objected to? I have. I spoke up and I was unassigned.

If you were not in news, what would you be doing? I’d like to believe I’d be living in Georgetown, South Carolina, writing a great novel. More likely, I’d be working at Piggly Wiggly.

Do you read blogs? If so, which ones? If not, what do you read on the Internet? I like Drudge, Gawker, and Curbed. I’ll check Public Eye to make sure I haven’t screwed up. I am addicted to the Perez Hilton Web site for celebrity gossip. He’s brutal and fantastic.

I read dozens of newspapers on the Internet each morning. I always check the Daily Mississippian to see how the Ole Miss Football team is doing and The Georgetown Times in South Carolina (where my parents live) to see what’s going on there. A few weeks ago they had “complete coverage” on the alligator that was “terrorizing” Georgetown. Good stuff.

What’s the last really great movie or book you’ve found? I usually think the best book is the one I just read. So, I’ll go with The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. I love it. It’s just this stunning, unforgettable, southern novel with these quirky, riveting characters. McCullers published it when she was 23. How unbelievable to have that much talent at that that age!

Also, I just finished Thomas Friedman’s From Beirut to Jerusalem. I love him. He’s a great writer and a genius.

The last great movie I saw has to be “Anchorman.” I’m pretty sure I’ve worked with Ron Burgundy.

What is your first memory of TV news? I remember coming home from school and watching the news the day President Reagan was shot. I must have been 8 years old. We were living near Washington, D.C., at the time and my father worked in the District and I was very worried that he was in danger so I watched the news for hours. I was terrified.

If you could change one thing about the profession of journalism, what would it be? You don’t have enough time or space, I promise.

Who is the most fascinating person you've covered and who is the biggest jerk? Most fascinating: I interviewed Bill Clinton a few times. He’s a study.

Biggest Jerk: When I working at KHBS/KHOG-TV back in Arkansas, they sent me to interview this teen star who was making an appearance at the mall. His name was Sasha Mitchell. He played “Cousin Cody Lambert” on an ABC show called “Step by Step” and this, of course, made him a big deal.

His “people” kept us waiting for like two hours and then when we finally we went to interview him he complained about the lighting, said he was too exhausted to answer any questions, left to get an Orange Julius and never came back.

I ended up getting yelled at back at the station for not getting the “all-important” interview. (Apparently, my bosses’ daughters loved Cousin Cody.) Last I heard, Sasha was on “E.R.” in the role of NO NAME.

Alfonsi to leave CBS

In June of 2007, with the ratings for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric at an all time low, rumors spread that Alfonsi not plan to stay at the network. cbs/sharyn_alfonsi_leaving_cbs_news_60786.asp

Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi is leaving CBS News at the end of her contract, two tipsters told Mediabistro.

The network says it won't comment on contractual matters. But it did say that she is currently a CBS News correspondent.

The tipsters say news of Alfonsi's intended departure circulated on Friday. "Alfonsi was very well-liked and highly respected amont the ranks," one CBSer says. "CBS wanted her to stay and become the national correspondent," describing her as a "rising star." Insiders say that Alfonsi and Anchor Katie Couric had "very different news sensibilities" and often clashed about the type of stories that should be covered on the Evening News.